Road commission, BOC discuss Caseville beach

Published 2:30 pm, Friday, April 22, 2016

BAD AXE— County officials on Wednesday hashed out concerns expressed this summer by some local officials and residents regarding the Caseville County Park beach.

“That’s the No. 1 beach in Huron County and that beach has to be maintained and kept up to snuff,” said Huron County Commissioner Clark Elftman. “We have to keep that thing up, and it’s up to you guys to see it done.”

Huron County Road Commission officials responded revenue in the park system’s capital improvements fund will be flat — at best — and if county commissioners want to direct the road commission to conduct additional projects, the county will either have to allocate funding for the project or other projects will have to be sacrificed.

“We just don’t have all the funds to do everything we’d like to do,” said Huron County Road Commission Trustee Michael Power.

Elftman was reiterating concerns Caseville Village Council members had about the Caseville beach during council’s Aug. 10 meeting. Village council members asked Elftman to take concerns they have regarding stagnant pools of water that affect the beach’s quality to the Huron County Road Commission, which oversees the park system for the Huron County Board of Commissioners.

Prior to that meeting, Caseville Councilman Ken Rathje approached Huron County Commissioners last month with concerns about the condition of his local beach. Commissioners said the road commission would be contacted and the matter would be discussed in the future with the road commission.

Additional concerns regarding the road commission were discussed at the Aug. 11 county board of commissioners meeting. At that time, it was decided the entire board would meet with road commission officials for Wednesday’s meeting of the whole.

During that session, road commission officials explained that the park system is funded through user fees. No tax dollars go toward maintaining and improving the parks, unless an allocation is given from the Huron County Board of Commissioners, which owns the park system.

Some parks generate more revenue through user fees than other parks. For example, in 2008, the Caseville County Park generated $575,578 in revenue, and expenses were $256,145, according to the road commission’s 2008 annual report. The $319,433 in profit from that park was used for maintenance and improvements at other parks. This also was the case for Wagener Park, which generated $143,939 in revenue and had $74,774 in expenses, resulting in a $69,165 profit. But at other parks, such as Bird Creek, Philp, McGraw, Stafford and Sebewaing, the cost for maintenance and improvements exceeded revenues.

Many people do not understand this, and as a result, a misconception exists where some in the local communities feel more money can be invested in the Caseville County Park and beach because it makes the most money.

Road commission officials noted the Caseville beach receives additional grooming to eliminate areas with standing water when it’s expected there will be a large crowd in the area, such as the Cheeseburger in Caseville festival.

“We have done that this year, no differently than from last year. I don’t know why it’s such an issue this year,” said Huron County Road Commission Secretary-Manager Neal Hentschl in an interview Thursday.

Power, who is a Caseville resident, noted he saw the beach and felt it was in good condition for the Cheeseburger in Caseville festival. He said he talked to residents and village officials and heard nothing but compliments about the beach’s condition. As a result, he and other road commission officials were surprised to hear the board and local officials had concerns.

Huron County Road Commission Vice Chairman John Hunt said that years ago the road commission charged an entrance fee at the Caseville County Park beach, which helped fund the cost of maintenance and improvements. However, even though the entrance charge was something proposed by former county commissioners, there was pressure from the public to end that practice. The former board of commissioners directed the road commission to discontinue collecting the entrance fees.

Without that revenue, only so much money can be spent in the park. Rather than put sand back that’s been building on the side of the beach to address the wet areas — which the road commission estimated will cost around $20,000 — the road commission already has decided to spend about $30,000 on providing new 50 amp service, with electric and water hookups. With this upgrade, the park will be able to accommodate more full hookup sites for campers, Hunt noted.

He said this way the park is catering to paying customers who rent sites from the park and need the above referenced capabilities for their camping equipment.

“The person that drives in off the street that goes to the beach is basically getting it for free, because there are no tax dollars going into that,” Hunt said. “The people paying the bill are the ones we need to listen to.”

Road commission officials said the issue of pools of stagnant water on the Caseville County Park beach could be rectified by paying $20,000 to put sand back on the beach.

Hentschl said the road commission is awaiting for a modified permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that would allow the county to return sand that originally was on the beach but now is built up into a berm. If the permit is granted, however, the sand will have to be screened, because the DEQ does not allow anyone to return “non-native” material to the beach.

That process, combined with the cost of equipment and labor, is why the road commission estimates it could cost $20,000 to level the sand out on the beach to prevent pools of stagnant water.

Road commission officials said putting $20,000 in the Caseville County Park would take funding away from other projects in the park system, such as re-establishing a boat launch at Stafford Park. Re-establishing the boat launch at Stafford Park would result in increased funding for the park system, whereas the beach improvements in Caseville would not, because those who use the beach do not pay for that service, unlike those who would use the boat launch at Stafford Park.

“As it stands right now, we have a list a mile long to keep the customers — the paying customers — coming back (to the park system),” Hentschl said. “So we don’t have the discretionary funds for the Caseville beach. There are a lot of things that need to be done before a little low area on the Caseville beach gets fixed.”

Hentschl said he understands the Caseville beach is very popular, but noted there are other parks that are popular throughout the summer when other towns hold festivals that also attract thousands of people to the area, Hentschl added.

“It’s so disingenuous to say the Caseville beach is the end all,” he said. “From strictly a business perspective, (you have to ask yourself) where do you spend the money with the limited funds we have.”

Huron County Board of Commissioners Chairman Ron Wruble suggested county commissioners and road commission officials discuss setting up some sort of revolving loan fund, where the county would loan the road commission funding for projects that will pay for themselves over time. The road commission could borrow the funding at little-to-no interest, Wruble suggested.

Road commission and county commissioners agreed this is something that can be looked at in the future.

In the meantime, Hunt said if the board of commissioners wants anything done in the Caseville Park, the board can direct the road commission to proceed. However, additional funding will be needed. Huron County Commissioner Dave Peruski, who heads the Finance Committee, noted there are no discretionary funds available to finance any sort of endeavor at the Caseville beach at this time.

Hentschl said the road commission has applied for stimulus funding through the American Recovery Act to extend the concrete walkway farther west at the Caseville County Park beach. If that funding was approved, the project would include beach work, which would take care of the problem of stagnant areas on the beach.

“The low area could take care of itself in the next project we do, but that could be some years out,” he said.

Hentschl noted the road commission never has hauled sand away to sell or use at other county parks. He said this has been a misconception for quite a few years. The only thing the road commission has hauled out of the Caseville beach is muck, Hentschl said.

“If that’s what people are seeing, that’s what we’ve done,” he said.

Commissioners discussed also opening up some communication avenues with the road commission and public in efforts to get civic organizations and local municipalities to assist in maintaining and/or improving the parks. At Stafford Park, six new camper cabins were purchased this year as a result of a partnership between the road commission and Port Hope Village Council.

Wruble said this is an example of how more projects can be accomplished if local entities work with the county. He noted the local entities benefit from the parks just as much as the county. Therefore, he said — and other commissioners agreed — it would benefit the entire area to work together.

“Now that there’s interest, it’s time to talk to see how we can work together to keep the beach at 100 percent (condition),” Elftman said.